PSMA1-mediated ultrasmall gold nanoparticles facilitate tumor targeting and MR/CT/NIRF multimodal detection of early-stage prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a prominent biomarker for prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. Safe contrast agents able to render the expression and distribution of PSMA would facilitate early accurate screening and prognostic prediction of PCa. However, current Gd-containing nanoparticles are often limited by nonspecific redistribution in mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and inadequate perfusion to target sites. Besides, intrinsic defects of magnetic resonance (MR) equipment also hamper their use for precisely depicting PSMA details. Herein, we devised a novel noninvasive MR/CT/NIRF multimodal contrast agent (AGGP) coordinated to a high-affinity PSMA ligand (PSMA1) to specifically detect and quantify PSMA expression in PCa lesions, which exhibited formidable tripe-modal signal augments, preferential PSMA targeting, effective MPS escaping and profitable renal-clearable behavior in living mice. Biocompatibility and histopathological studies substantiated high security of AGGP in vivo, opening the door to future opportunities for improving early-stage PCa detection and clinical implementation of more effective multifunctional nanotherapeutics.

Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging identify feasibility of breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer patients.

Background: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) stands as the favored modality for treating early-stage breast cancer. Accurately forecasting the feasibility of BCS preoperatively can aid in surgical planning and reduce the rate of switching of surgical methods and reoperation. The objective of this study is to identify the radiomics features and preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics that are linked with positive margins following BCS in patients with breast cancer, with the ultimate aim of creating a predictive model for the feasibility of BCS. Methods: This study included a cohort of 221 pretreatment MRI images obtained from patients with breast cancer. A total of seven MRI semantic features and 1,561 radiomics features of lesions were extracted. The feature subset was determined by eliminating redundancy and correlation based on the features of the training set. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression was then trained with this subset to classify the final BCS positive and negative margins and subsequently validated using the test set. Results: Seven features were significant in the discrimination of cases achieving positive and negative margins. The radiomics signature achieved area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.760 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.630, 0.891], 0.712 (95% CI: 0.569, 0.829), 0.882 (95% CI: 0.623, 0.979) and 0.629 (95% CI: 0.449, 0.780) in the test set, respectively. The combined model of radiomics signature and background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) demonstrated an AUC, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.759 (95% CI: 0.628, 0.890), 0.654 (95% CI: 0.509, 0.780), 0.679 (95% CI: 0.476, 0.834) and 0.625 (95% CI: 0.408, 0.804). Conclusions: The combination of preoperative MRI radiomics features can well predict the success of breast conserving surgery.

Continuous On-Site H2O2 Electrosynthesis via Two-Electron Oxygen Reduction Enabled by an Oxygen-Doped Single-Cobalt Atom Catalyst with Nitrogen Coordination.

Single-Co atom catalysts are suggested as an efficient platinum metal group-free catalyst for promoting the oxygen reduction into water or hydrogen peroxide, while the relevance of the catalyst structure and selectivity is still ambiguous. Here, we propose a thermal evaporation method for modulating the chemical environment of single-Co atom catalysts and unveil the effect on the selectivity and activity. It discloses that nitrogen functional groups prefer to proceed the oxygen reduction via a 4e- pathway and notably improve the intrinsic activity, especially when being coordinated with the Co center, while oxygen doping tempts the electron delocalization around cobalt sites and decreases the binding force toward HOO* intermediates, thereby increasing the 2e- selectivity. Consequently, the well-designed oxygen-doped single-Co atom catalysts with nitrogen coordination deliver an impressive 2e- oxygen reduction performance, approaching the onset potential of 0.78 V vs RHE and selectivity of >90%. As an impressive cathode catalyst of an electrochemical flow cell, it generates H2O2 at a rate of 880 mmol gcat-1 h-1 and faradaic efficiency of 95.2%, in combination with an efficient nickel-iron oxygen evolution anode.

Effects of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Beta Gene Polymorphisms on the Plasma Concentration of Aripiprazole in Chinese Patients with Schizophrenia: A Preliminary Study.

This study explored the differences in glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3ß) gene polymorphisms between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and investigated the association between gene polymorphisms and plasma concentration of aripiprazole. We enrolled 127 patients with schizophrenia and 125 healthy controls from southern Fujian. The genotypes of the rs6438552, rs12630592, and rs3732361 loci of GSK3ß were evaluated by sequencing with amplified polymerase chain reaction, and the plasma concentration of aripiprazole was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. All three loci of GSK3ß had three genotypes each. The genotype distribution in each locus was not significantly different, but there was a significant difference in the allele frequency between the schizophrenia and control groups within each locus. Linkage disequilibrium analyses of the three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed strong linkage. The haplotype analysis results showed two haplotypes in the three SNPs of GSK3ß. The plasma concentrations, dose-corrected concentrations, and normalized concentrations of aripiprazole were significantly different among the different genotypes of the three SNPs. In conclusion, the rs6438552, rs12630592, and rs3732361 loci of GSK3ß may be involved in schizophrenia, and GSK3ß gene polymorphism may be correlated with the plasma concentration of aripiprazole.

Exploring the degradation mechanism of nickel-copper-molybdenum hydrogen evolution catalysts during intermittent operation.

We investigate the dynamic degradation behaviors of a nickel-copper-molybdenum hydrogen evolution catalyst in a liquid and solid polymer electrolyte to figure out its endurance in a renewable energy-driven electrolyzer. A cathode current protection approach is proposed to achieve a durable electrolyzer during intermittent operation.

Magnetic resonance imaging semantic and quantitative features analyses: an additional diagnostic tool for breast phyllodes tumors.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to differentiate benign and non-benign (borderline/malignant) phyllodes tumors of the breast by the semantic and quantitative features in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: The female patients, diagnosed with phyllodes tumors by MRI and pathological test, were retrospectively selected from December, 2006 to April, 2019. The MRI of benign, borderline and malignant phyllodes tumors was analyzed using 8 semantic features and 20 computed quantitative features from diffuse contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). The semantic features were analyzed by univariate analysis. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to identify the optimal subset of MRI quantitative features. According to the results from multivariate logistic regression for the semantic and quantitative features, the model was constructed to differentiate benign and non-benign (borderline/malignant) phyllodes tumors. RESULTS: Thirty-two benign (58.18%), 13 borderline (23.64%) and 10 malignant (18.18%) phyllodes tumors were identified in 54 patients. Five semantic features were proved to be significantly correlated with pathologic grade, including size, the T1 weighted image signal intensity, fat-saturated T2-weighted image signal intensity, enhanced signal intensity, and kinetic curve pattern. With the analysis of LASSO method, three quantitative texture features with significant predictive ability were selected. The model combining both the semantic and quantitative features was proved to have good performance in differentiation on phyllodes tumors, yielding an area under receiver operating characteristic curve, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 0.893, 0.933, 1.000, and 0.818, respectively. CONCLUSION: The constructed model based on the semantic and quantitative features of DCE-MRI can significantly improve the differential diagnosis of phyllodes tumors in breast.

[Clinical study on depression differentiated as yang deficiency treated with the combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and western medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences in the clinical efficacy on depression differentiated as yang deficiency between the combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and escitalopram and the simple application escitalopram. METHODS: Eighty patients of depression differentiated as yang deficiency were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 40 cases in each one. In the control group, escitalopram was prescribed for oral administration, 10 mg a day, after each breakfast. In the observation group, on the basis of the treatment as the control group, the ginger-isolated moxibustion was supplemented at Dazhui (GV 14) and bilateral back-shu points of five zang organs[Xinshu (BL 15), Ganshu (BL 18), Pishu (BL 20), Feishu (BL 13) and Shenshu (BL 23)]. Moxibustion was used 5 times a week. Twenty times of moxibustion were taken as one session and totally 3 sessions were required (totally 84 days). After 3 sessions of treatment, the concentration of serum 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) before and after treatment and clinical efficacy were observed in the two groups. After 3 sessions of treatment, escitalopram was taken continuously, 10 mg a day for 9 months in the two groups and the recurrent rate was observed in a half year after discontinuity of medication in the two groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 97.5% (39/40) in the observation group and was 92.5% (37/40) in the control group. The total effective rate was similar between the two groups (both P>0.05). The curative and remarkably effective rate was 82.5% (33/40) in the observation group, better than 62.5% (25/40) in the control group (P<0.05). The serum 5-HT after treatment was increased as compared with that before treatment in the patients of the two groups (both P<0.05), but the diffe-rence was not significant statistically between the two groups (P>0.05). The recurrent rate of depression was 7.7% (3/39) in the observation group, lower than 27.0% (10/37) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and escitalopram achieves the better curative and remarkably effective rate as compared with the simple western medicine and it significantly reduces the recurrence of depression.